East Division

Series Wrapup

Story

The San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers renewed their rivalry in 1971, battling each other right down to the wire for supremacy in the decidedly mediocre National League West. The Giants ended up edging out the Dodgers by one game, finishing the regular season with a record of 90-72.

Posting just the sixth-best team ERA in the National League (3.32), the Giants depended heavily on their offense to capture their first N.L. West title. San Francisco finished third in the senior circuit with 706 runs scored and 140 home runs. Bobby Bonds led the Giants’ attack, finishing first on the club with 33 home runs, 102 runs batted in, 110 runs scored, 26 steals, and a .288 batting average. He received help from 40-year-old Willie Mays, who hit 18 homers, scored 82 times, stole 23 bases, and led the league with 112 bases on balls and a .425 on-base percentage.

Meanwhile, Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry served as the team’s only reliable starters. Marichal finished 18-11, with a 2.94 ERA and 18 complete games. Perry posted 16 victories and led the staff with a 2.76 ERA and 280 innings pitched.

Los Angeles had the division’s best pitcher in Al Downing, who had the finest season of his career. The left-hander finished 20-9, with a 2.68 ERA, 268 innings pitched, and a league-leading five shutouts.

Although the Atlanta Braves finished third in the N.L. West, eight games behind the first-place Giants, their lineup featured the division’s top offensive performer. Hank Aaron placed among the league leaders with 47 home runs, 118 runs batted in, and a .327 batting average, and he topped the circuit with a .669 slugging average.

While the Giants and Dodgers waged a year-long battle in the N.L. West, the Pittsburgh Pirates found it less difficult to separate themselves from the rest of the pack in the Eastern Division. Pittsburgh finished the regular season with a record of 97-65, seven games ahead of the second-place St. Louis Cardinals.

Featuring an offense that topped the senior circuit with 788 runs scored, the Pirates had nary an easy out in their batting order. Manny Sanguillen batted .319 and knocked in 81 runs. Dave Cash batted .289, while Al Oliver posted a mark of .282. Powerful first baseman Bob Robertson hit 26 home runs in fewer than 500 official at-bats. Roberto Clemente batted .341 and drove in 86 runs. Willie Stargell established himself as Pittsburgh's top offensive threat by scoring 104 runs, batting .295, leading the league with 48 home runs, and placing second with 125 runs batted in and a .628 slugging average.

Pittsburgh’s potent offense proved to be too much for San Francisco to overcome in the NLCS, as the Pirates defeated the Giants in four games. The Pirates outscored their overmatched opponents by a combined margin of 24-15.

Pittsburgh subsequently entered the World Series as underdogs against an exceptional Baltimore Orioles ball club that needed only five games to dispose of the powerful Cincinnati Reds in the previous year’s Fall Classic. However, after dropping the first two contests in Baltimore, the Pirates grabbed a 3-2 Series lead by sweeping the Orioles in Pittsburgh. Baltimore evened the Series at three games apiece with an extra-inning victory in Game Six.

Pittsburgh starter Steve Blass returned to the mound for Game Seven after earlier allowing the Orioles just three hits in earning a complete-game 5-1 victory in Game Three. Blass came through again, getting the better of Mike Cuellar in a 2-1 pitcher’s duel that gave the Pirates their first world championship in 11 years. While Blass starred on the mound for Pittsburgh, Roberto Clemente earned Series MVP honors by batting .414, collecting 12 hits, and hitting two homers.

The Pirates clearly established themselves as the National League’s best team over the course of the season, and Willie Stargell served as the driving force behind their successful run to the pennant. Nevertheless, Stargell finished a distant second to Joe Torre in the N.L. MVP voting. Playing third base regularly for the first time after spending most of his previous 10 seasons either behind the plate or at first base, Torre had a career-year for the second-place Cardinals. He hit 24 homers, scored 97 runs, and led the league with 137 runs batted in, a .363 batting average, 230 hits, and 352 total bases. Lou Brock also had an outstanding season for St. Louis, batting .313, collecting 200 hits, and topping the circuit with 126 runs scored and 64 stolen bases.

Meanwhile, the league’s top two pitchers also called the N.L. East home. Pitching for the Chicago Cubs, who finished third in the division, 14 games off the pace, Ferguson Jenkins captured N.L. Cy Young honors by leading all league hurlers with 24 wins, 325 innings pitched, and 30 complete games. He also compiled a 2.77 earned run average and struck out 263 batters.

Tom Seaver had an equally sensational year for the New York Mets, who finished tied with the Cubs for third place in the division. Seaver finished 20-10, with 21 complete games, 286 innings pitched, and a league-leading 1.76 ERA and 289 strikeouts.

Other outstanding performers, notable events, and points of interest from around the league follow:

• April 27 - Hank Aaron became the third player in Major League history to hit 600 home runs.

• December 1 – The Chicago Cubs released longtime star and future Hall of Famer Ernie Banks, ending his 19-year major league career. The Cubs also announced that Banks would serve as a coach on manager Leo Durocher’s staff the following season.

• World Series Game Four at Pittsburgh was the first night game in the history of the Fall Classic.

• The Phillies played their first game in Veterans Stadium on April 10 against the Montreal Expos.

• Philadelphia’s Larry Bowa established a new major league record for major league shortstops by compiling a .987 fielding average.